Following the passage of the fifteenth and twentieth anniversaries of the entry of many former communist states into both NATO and the EU in 2019, this book takes a comprehensive look at the changed security conditions of these new member states. How has NATO and EU membership improved their overall defence protection, and what elements are still missing for them on an individual state basis?

Utilising alliance politics theory, convergence/divergence theory and defence policy theory, the book provides an invaluable assessment of defence policies, from the stable East Central European states to the most jeopardised Baltic states in the north of Europe. With chapters on the Cold War defence conditions during the last two decades of Soviet domination, post 1989-91 transformations in the direction of democracy and the impact of the 2014 Ukraine-Russia-Crimea crisis, this book is essential reading for those seeking to understand the changed landscape of European politics in the twenty-first century.

1 Introduction: membership anniversaries and theoretical security models - James W. Peterson and Jacek Lubecki
2 Cold War security experiences of Eastern European States - Jacek Lubecki
3 Anti-communist revolutions and the emergence of states responsible for their own defense - Jacek Lubecki
4 NATO: Partnership for Peace (PfP) and a staggered admission process - James W. Peterson
5 The EU as a security provider in Eastern Europe - Michael Baun
6 Secure East-Central European NATO members: the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia - James W. Peterson and Jacek Lubecki
7 Stable Balkan NATO/EU members: Albania and Bulgaria - Ivan P. Nikolov and James W. Peterson
8 Vulnerability of former Yugoslav NATO (Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, and North Macedonia) and non-NATO (Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, and Serbia) states - James W. Peterson
9 States with significant security issues: Poland, Romania, and Moldova - Jacek Lubecki and James W. Peterson
10 Challenged Baltic States: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania - Olavi Arens
11 Conclusion: moving beyond the 15-20-year anniversaries to stable policies in a time of constant political turmoil - James W. Peterson and Jacek Lubecki

Bibliography
Index

Editors

James W. Peterson is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Political Science at Valdosta State University

Jacek Lubecki is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at Georgia Southern University